Dell is changing its approach. Consumers don’t want this new thing at all

After years of insistently connecting everything to artificial intelligence, a large manufacturer finally appeared and clearly pressed the brake. During CES 2026 in Las Vegas, the attention of many observers was drawn by Dell’s strategy, which was one of the few that did not try to sell every laptop and computer set with the slogan “AI”.

New Alienware laptops for 2026 and the announced Area-51 desktop were promoted primarily as gaming and work equipment. Of course, these are computers capable of supporting functions based on artificial intelligence, but the manufacturer has clearly refrained from aggressively exposing this fact.

The change in approach is not accidental. In an interview with PC Gamer, Kevin Terwilliger, head of the product department at Dell, directly admitted that the market was flooded with messages about AI to the point of absurdity. Manufacturers of processors and graphics cards, as well as companies creating consumer electronics, began to treat artificial intelligence as a mandatory label, regardless of the real benefits for the user.

Similar conclusions have been made before. Jeff Clarke, vice president and COO of Dell, described the demand for AI as “unfulfilled promise”. Over the past year, AI-powered features have been aggressively promoted almost everywhere, often without clear justification. Effect? Growing consumer frustration, especially since the same AI race has contributed to problems with the availability of DRAM memory on the market.